Motive Still Unclear

And on Friday, Smithfield police Capt. Phil Hardison described how it happened:

Nowell struck Beyer, 35, on the head with something blunt and stabbed her repeatedly, Hardison said. He said police aren't sure which happened first.

Finally, Nowell and his cousin, Derrick Lee Kindred, 19, poured gasoline on her lifeless body and the rear bedroom, setting it all ablaze, said Hardison.

Nowell, 20, has been charged with first-degree murder and arson. Kindred, of Franklin, was arrested Thursday and charged as an accomplice in the fire.

At least 15 people in the Cedar Street Apartments were left homeless, including a 19-month-old girl. Property damage is estimated at about $400,000.

Red and white carnations lay on the steps near the charred building Friday. A sobbing friend of Beyer's put the flowers there Thursday afternoon.

"She was the salt of the earth," said the friend, who asked not to be identified.

Others described her as the type of person who would always say hello and share a laugh.

But the night before she was killed, Beyer revealed to one neighbor, Yvette Strickland, that she had nothing to laugh about.

"I'm struggling," Beyer told Strickland. "Just trying to make it."

Something about Beyer's demeanor troubled Strickland.

"It was a dark feeling I had," Strickland said. "Something in my spirit."

Strickland and Beyer walked up the steps leading to their apartments in the complex at about 9 p.m. on Monday.

"Don't worry," Strickland told Beyer just before they went inside. "Everything will be OK."

Strickland got a call about the fire the next day while she was at work.

"They said there was a fire in Nettie's apartment," she said. "I'm thinking, OK, a little smoke. I wasn't thinking fire like her house burning down."

She saw a thick cloud over smoke coming from near downtown Smithfield as she approached the apartment complex. But she didn't think it was the fire at Beyer's apartment.

When she got closer, Strickland realized that she was wrong. "I started praying," she said. "I didn't know what to expect."

Police and fire officials had blocked off the complex, and Strickland said she almost couldn't get in to see the damage. But when she did, Strickland saw the flames come up the back of the building. Heat melted the siding on a nearby apartment building.

Strickland's apartment was not destroyed in the fire, but it's no longer livable because it was adjacent to the ones that burned.

"It was like something out of a movie," Strickland said.

Because the fire started in Beyer's apartment, Strickland wondered if her neighbor was inside. But another neighbor told Strickland that she'd seen Beyer's car leaving the complex about two or three minutes before the fire.

"We thought Nettie had gone out to the store and couldn't get back in," Strickland said.

Strickland said she was stunned to find out Beyer had died and even more shocked by Nowell's arrest.

"He was always very pleasant," she said. "He'd always say 'Hi, how are you doing.' I wouldn't think he had any violence in him."

But, Strickland said since the fire, rumors began to surface about Beyer and Nowell having problems.

Nowell lived most of his life in Richmond, according to court documents. He came to Smithfield about eight months ago and worked at Smithfield Packing, the documents say. Workers at the plant interviewed Friday afternoon said he worked in sanitation.

The tall, slim man with a tattoo of a spider web covering his right elbow was on probation for a bad check felony in 1997, according to court documents. The documents do not say where he committed the felony.

Nowell returned to the scene of the fire on Wednesday as police were investigating. He was questioned and arrested that afternoon. Franklin police arrested Kindred about 1 a.m. on Thursday.

Both men are being held in Western Tidewater Regional Jail in Suffolk. They refused interview requests by the Daily Press, jail officials said.

The jail officials said Nowell refused because his lawyer advised him against it. Kindred refused because he doesn't have a lawyer yet.

Strickland wants to know why anyone would kill Beyer and then risk the lives of everyone else in the complex by setting a fire.

"It shows he had no regard for any life," she said. "Period. None."

Judith Malveaux can be reached at 247-4926 or 357-6392 or by e-mail at jmalveaux@dailypress.com